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Sunday, 29 May 2016

50 bands in 1 month. I figured #50 had to be something special. This band probably doesn't need an introduction, but here's one anyway. The Get Up Kids are a five-piece indie/alternative/emo/pop punk band from Kansas City, Missouri that formed in 1995 and broke up in 2005. They reunited three years later in 2008, and have been active ever since. Without a doubt, The Get Up Kids are one of the most seminal and influential bands to come out of the 90's, particularly on emo and indie in the next decade. From small, underground bands to very, very well-known names such as Pete Wentz and Mark Hoppus, The Get Up Kids have really made an impact on music. This is mostly due to one particular album, 1999's incredible Something To Write Home About, which features 12 insanely catchy pop songs that simply never get old.

Prior to Something To Write Home About, they had released a handful of material, including a great EP titled Woodson and another full-length, Four Minute Mile. This was fairly standard, catchy, 90's pop punk/emo fare, and their punk roots somewhat show. They gained a lot of attention in the following years as their sound grew more and more popular, until they made some huge changes in the early 2000's. On A Wire and Guilt Show found the band exploring new sounds, more in an indie/alternative range, with keyboards and a more mature approach to their music. After their reunion, this sound became even more prominent on their last album, There Are Rules, which is the last recorded material to date. It's all great stuff, so I highly advise checking all of it out, but Something To Write Home About is the clear essential here. Enjoy.

Friday, 27 May 2016

Coalesce are a four-piece hardcore/metalcore/mathcore band from Kansas City, Missouri that formed in 1994, broke up in 1999, reunited in 2005, and have been active ever since. Besides that, I don't even know where to start with these guys. Coalesce are easily one of the most influential bands in metalcore, right up there with Converge and Botch. Not only are they influential, but they've put out some of the heaviest and most boundary-pushing music in hardcore (as a blanket term) history. Sean Ingram's low, guttural vocals are incredibly distinct and a huge part of Coalesce's sound. The band is also very tight, and very technically proficient. They wrote some incredibly complex arrangements, and very tricky fills and riffs, but still could hammer out a straight-forward heavy riff when it fit, and experiment with other sounds as they pleased. They also were affiliated with a ton of other great bands, including The Get Up Kids and The Casket Lottery, both clearly very different from the sound of Coalesce. This is a band of incredible musicians that have put out some of heavy music's best work, and I don't think much more needs to be said other than that. This shit is absolutely essential, so enjoy.

Our Sunday Affairs were a four-piece emo/indie band from Robbinsville, New Jersey that formed in 2009 and broke up in 2013. A handful of EP's, a few splits, a compilation, and a sole full-length is what comprises their discography, which is quite a bit for a band that only existed for four years. Thankfully we've got a decent chunk of material, because they were a truly great band. They played a very noodley/twinkly brand of emo, kind of like Joie De Vivre or Algernon Cadwallader, but with a hint of screamier territory that fans of the Merchant Ships family and early Old Gray will definitely take a liking to. Basically, if you're into modern midwestern emo, you're into Our Sunday Affairs. Enjoy.

Wednesday, 25 May 2016

Hesitation Wounds are a four-piece hardcore/metalcore band formed in 2012 by members of tons of other very noteworthy bands. Their vocalist is Jeremy Bolm, better known as the lead singer of Touché Amoré. Their debut EP was also released on his label, Secret Voice. The rest of the band consists of guitarist Neeraj Kane (who also played in The Suicide File and is best known as a member of The Hope Conspiracy), bassist Stephen LaCour (from Trap Them), and drummer Jay Weinberg (who used to play with Against Me! and Madball, and and is the current drummer for Slipknot).

Clearly, the roster is stacked with talent, and it clearly comes through in the music. The band plays a dark, heavy, and metallic style of hardcore that is blended with Bolm's passionate vocal delivery. Though they formed more as an experimental project (the EP was written and recorded within a few days), they ended up doing a few shows in support of it. Now in 2016, they just released their debut full-length on 6131. Thus why I had to share this band and the new album A$AP, so please do enjoy.

A Stubborn Reminder...

Please remember, not everything on here is supposed to be free. Enjoy to your heart's content, but if you can, please try and support these bands by purchasing records, going to shows, buying merch, anything if at all possible. Most of them could really use (and deserve) it.